The Law of Law School: The Essential Guide for First-Year Law Students
126
The Law of Law School: The Essential Guide for First-Year Law Students
126Paperback
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Overview
“Dear Law Student: Here’s the truth. You belong here.”
Law professor Andrew Ferguson and former student Jonathan Yusef Newton open with this statement of reassurance in The Law of Law School. As all former law students and current lawyers can attest, law school is disorienting, overwhelming, and difficult. Unlike other educational institutions, law school is not set up simply to teach a subject. Instead, the first year of law school is set up to teach a skill set and way of thinking, which you then apply to do the work of lawyering. What most first-year students don’t realize is that law school has a code, an unwritten rulebook of decisions and traditions that must be understood in order to succeed.
The Law of Law School endeavors to distill this common wisdom into one hundred easily digestible rules. From self-care tips such as “Remove the Drama,” to studying tricks like “Prepare for Class like an Appellate Argument,” topics on exams, classroom expectations, outlining, case briefing, professors, and mental health are all broken down into the rules that form the hidden law of law school. If you don’t have a network of lawyers in your family and are unsure of what to expect, Ferguson and Newton offer a forthright guide to navigating the expectations, challenges, and secrets to first-year success. Jonathan Newton was himself such a non-traditional student and now shares his story as a pathway to a meaningful and positive law school experience. This book is perfect for the soon-to-be law school student or the current 1L and speaks to the growing number of first-generation law students in America.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781479801626 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | New York University Press |
| Publication date: | 04/07/2020 |
| Pages: | 126 |
| Sales rank: | 914,623 |
| Product dimensions: | 4.80(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.70(d) |
About the Author
Jonathan Yusef Newton earned his JD at University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, and is President of the National Association against Police Brutality. He is currently licensed to practice law in the State of Maryland.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Welcome to Law School 1
Letter to a 1L on the First Day of Law School 3
1L Mind-Set
1 There Is a "Law of Law School" 13
2 Discover Your Schools Legal Culture 14
3 Law Is Personal 15
4 Flip Your Thinking 16
5 Think like a Lawyer 17
Planning to Plan
6 Plan for "Day One" of Law School 21
7 There Is No "Day Two" 22
8 Visualize the Full Semester 23
9 Don't Forsake Free Help 24
10 Plan for Exams from the Start 25
Books
11 Buy the Books 29
12 Read Hornbooks and Treatises 30
13 Use Study Aids 31
14 Study the Legal Dictionary 32
15 Find Time for Outside Critical Reading 33
Studying
16 Prepare for Class like an Appellate Argument 37
17 Read Supplements First 38
18 The Secret Structure of Casebooks 39
19 Studying Means Translating 40
20 Ask "Why" for Each Case 41
Reading
21 Read! 45
22 Read on Three Levels 46
23 Find the "Takeaway" of Each Case 47
24 Read the Footnotes, the Concurring Opinions, and the Dissents 48
25 Simplify Sentences as You Read 49
Briefing Cases
26 Briefing Means Decoding and Encoding 53
27 Train Your Mind-See the IRAC Pattern 54
28 "Frame Out" Your Cases 55
29 Use Briefs as a Self-Test 56
30 Briefing for Context 57
In Class
31 Class Is like Oral Argument 61
32 Ban Your Own Laptop 62
33 Notes Should Be Reflection, Not Transcription 63
34 Engage, Don't Hide 64
35 Appreciate Teaching-Style Federalism 65
Habits of Success
36 Undergraduate Study Habits Must Die 69
37 Checklist Each Day 70
38 Find Solitude to Study 71
39 Ignore Social Media 72
40 Prioritize Time Management 73
Confidence
41 Get Your Mind Right 77
42 You Belong in Law School 78
43 Accept the Learning Curve 79
44 Laws Disorienting Effect 80
45 Lift Others Up 81
Outlines
46 Distill, Distill, Distill 85
47 Begin Outlining Immediately 86
48 Collaborate on Outlines 87
49 A Mind Map 88
50 The Front Page 89
Application, Application, Application
51 Test Yourself 93
52 Find Hypotheticals in Life 94
53 Mastery Requires Repetitive, Iterative Practice 95
54 See the Connecting Thread 96
55 If There Is an Answer, They Don't Need to Hire a Lawyer 97
Legal Writing/Research
56 Pay Attention in Legal Research Class 101
57 You Cannot Write 102
58 Proofread for Precision and Perfection 103
59 See Infra the Importance of Citations 104
60 Law Librarians Are Wizards 105
Professors
61 Meet with Your Professor 109
62 To Impress, Engage the Law 110
63 Understand What Law Professors Really Do 111
64 Understand Your Professors' Interests 112
65 Professors Do Not Represent the Law 113
Extracurricular Activities
66 Motivate Yourself with Idealism 117
67 Focus on Law-Related Projects 118
68 Extracurricular Internships Do Not Track Law School Time-Lines 119
69 Attend Law School Events 120
70 To Be a World-Changing Lawyer, You Have to Become a Lawyer First 121
Culture/Community
71 The Rule of Professional Reputation 125
72 Expectations of Excellence 126
73 Civic Health 127
74 Build Bridges to the Community 128
75 Represent the Legal Profession and Your Law School 129
Self-Care
76 Remove the Drama 133
77 Find Perspective 134
78 Find Balance Every Day 135
79 Avoid the Temptations 136
80 Help Is Here 137
Midterms
81 Understand the Purpose of a Midterm 141
82 Carve Out Time to Study 142
83 Trick Your Memory 143
84 Understand Issue-Spotting Exams 144
85 Review Your Midterm 145
Reading Period
86 Focus on the Future, Not the Past 149
87 Practice Taking Practice Exams 150
88 Strategize Flow 151
89 Create Issue Checklists 152
90 Pre-write Answers 153
Final Exams
91 A Word about Stress 157
92 The Call of the Question 158
93 Think "Where," Not "What" 159
94 Packaging an Exam Answer 160
95 Time for an A 161
Second Semester and Beyond
96 Review the Semester 165
97 Professional Advancement 166
98 Law Review and Other Leadership Positions 167
99 Congratulate Yourself 169
100 Repeat 169
Conclusion 171
Authors' Stories 173
About the Authors 181